Vance Johnson

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Vance has been using No-Till/Reduced-Till since 2010 and has been using with cover crops and green manures since 2015. He’s used nurse crops in sugarbeets since the early 2000’s and began planting soybeans green about 2019. Since that time, his operations have gone to Minimum-Till/No-Till and cover across 75% of the farm.

Vance started with reduced/No-till because he had very large washouts on a hilly piece of ground 2 springs in a row. After a few years of minimum-tillage he started seeing trafficability improvements, reduced water erosion, and a change in annual weeds competition. It was at that time that he decided that he needed to bring those advantages to the flats in the valley. He’s also seen a change in the soil properties to the point that they’ve been able to get more areas planted within fields in wet springs.

Vance is a mentor because he enjoys sharing the story of his journey into Soil Health. He feels that with his prior farming background as a field agronomist he offers the ability to explain why they may be seeing the changes on the farm that they are seeing, as well as, have an understanding as to the challenges farmers face when trying to make changes. Vance is also driven by the fact that by talking and sharing with others he is exposed to other challenges and options in regards to reduced tillage and cover crops, which in turn, pushes him forward on his venture.